ANHA agency monitors tragic conditions of Sweida Hospital due to siege and bombing

ANHA agency has monitored the catastrophic conditions at the Sweida National Hospital in southern Syria, following the violent attack launched by transitional government forces on the city on July 13, amid a stifling siege that has entered its second week.

According to hospital officials, hundreds of bodies have been handed over to their families in recent days, while more than 130 bodies remain unidentified amid tragic conditions and a near-total lack of electricity, water, medicine, and basic medical supplies.

In a special testimony to ANHA agency, a hospital employee said: "What I saw here in the hospital was unnatural and inhumane, especially toward children and women. The people who came to us were headless, their heads shot. The young children... The child who comes to my memory is Ajwad al-Assad, who was no more than five years old. He was shot. Why? I don't know... This is a small part of the reality of what happened in Sweida and Jabal al-Arab."

Nayef Kaboul, a volunteer at the hospital and a second-year computer science student, also spoke about the horrific working conditions, saying, "We arrived here and the situation was tragic. There was a complete loss of staff, not due to negligence, but because everyone was afraid to come to the hospital after two doctors were martyred. There was a severe shortage, and those present were scared to leave for other hospitals, not just here. We even tried to shut down the hospital on a rented basis."

The volunteer added, "Sweida has been under siege for seven days. We have been cut off from electricity, water, and all food supplies. We are living under an occupation siege. What is happening is the eradication of an entire Syrian community under the guise of outlaw groups. This is a lie. We are patriots; our allegiance has always been and remains to motherland Syria."

He pointed out that the hospital itself did not escape the bombing, saying, "The hospital became a battlefield. Shells hit departments, putting some out of service. Patients and the injured were liquidated there, a doctor and nurses were humiliated, and a young volunteer was killed for speaking the truth."

He concluded by saying, "What's happening isn't an army imposing security. It's an army invading and killing Syrians, civilians, and children. The people coming to us are unarmed; they're all children, children who know nothing about war. We're a humanitarian hospital here; we've treated everyone, both civilians and members of the military. But those who attacked us were devoid of any humanity."

Amid these conditions, demands are growing for an immediate end to the siege and for protection of the hospital, its medical staff, and civilians. The hospital has become a living witness to one of the most horrific humanitarian crimes in Syria in recent years

Sh-S

ANHA